[NSRCA-discussion] Airplane angle of attack

[Jeff Hill]

This is a question about full size airplanes that has some  
applicability to model design. We're talking about airliners that  
have an essentially cylindrical fuse.

I'm having a debate with a friend at work about whether or not full  
scale airliners fly slightly nose up. I claim they do he claims they  
don't.

I claim they do because the airflow would be more stable about a  
cylindrical body that was at a slight angle of attack, and that if  
you make it nose up you also gain a little lift.

He claims that airliners fly with no AOA in the fuse because the last  
thing a designer wants is lift from the fuse because lift generates  
drag, the fuse is not a good shape for generating lift, and  
consequently it isn't worth paying the drag penalty.

What do you all think?

Jeff Hill